Thursday, July 02, 2009

First of all, there's a difference–I think—between religious sisters and nuns. Anybody with more info, please chime in.

Anyway:

The Vatican is quietly conducting two sweeping investigations of American nuns, a development that has startled nuns who fear they are the targets of a doctrinal inquisition.

Good. And I'm not at all offended by the word "inquisition" and don't you folks be cowed by it either, please.

Nuns were the often-unsung workers who helped build the Roman Catholic Church in this country, planting schools and hospitals and keeping parishes humming. But for the last three decades, their numbers have been declining - to 60,000 today from 180,000 in 1965.

Not good. The declining numbers, I mean. The "unsung workers" label is a good thing.We're not supposed to look for kudos.

While some nuns say they are grateful that the Vatican is finally paying attention to their dwindling communities, many fear that the real motivation is to reel in American nuns who have reinterpreted their calling for the modern world.

First clause good. Second clause? Silly.

In the last four decades since the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, many American nuns stopped wearing their religious habits, left their convents to live independently, and went into new lines of work: academia and other professions, social and political advocacy, and grass-roots organizations that serve the poor or promote spirituality. A few nuns have also been active in organizations that advocate changes in the church like ordaining women.